It Takes Time
by flirtswithdisaster
Summary: Takes place after the finale. And i know what you're thinking. But, i promise mine is different. Starts out will Rory leaving for her job and Luke and Lorelai trying to figure out their relaionship. It won't happen as quickly as they thought...
1. Around Luke Danes?

**It Takes Time**

**Chapter 1 – Around Luke Danes?**

**I know this is another post finale fic, but I promise you will like it! This chapter is short but I'm just trying to figure out if anyone will actually read this. SO, please read, and I promise good things are to come.**

**Yay new story!**

Lorelai and Rory had just enjoyed a very early morning breakfast at Luke's before embarking on their journey to the airport. It was 5:30 in the morning, a time neither of them had seen in a long time, or ever. You would assume that they would both be dead tired, however, they were not. Anxiety and caffeine combined had them wide awake.

"Ready?" Lorelai asked.

Rory took a deep breath and looked at the road ahead. "Yes."

And with that, they were off the airport. After they had driven out of town and reached the highway, Rory decided she needed a break from being nervous about her job. She needed a distraction. She looked over at her mother, who looked very determined. Whether she was determined to get her daughter to airport on time, or determined not to cry, Rory was sure her mom could use a distraction too.

"So, did I tell you I like your necklace?" Rory said.

"Yeah, you did." Lorelai said, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Where did you get it?"

"Oh, you know, just…around."

"Around?"

"Yep."

"Around Luke Danes?" Rory asked hopefully.

Lorelai nodded as a huge smile spread across her face.

Rory shrieked and leapt across the car to hug her mother.

"Hey! I'm driving here!"

"Were you gonna tell me?" Rory asked seriously.

"Tell you what?"

"About you and Luke?"

"I would have told you eventually."

"Mom!" Rory scolded. "This is big! I can't believe you weren't going to tell me."

"Well, you have a lot on your mind right now."

"So? I still would like to know."

"Ok, I'm sorry."

"So…"

"So…"

"What happened? Tell me everything! Don't leave anything out."

"Rory…"

"Please mom. I need the distraction right now."

"Well, ok. I mean, we still have a lot of work to do. We haven't really talked about anything that happened."

"You said you guys were done. You said you were over him." Rory pointed out.

"Well you asked me if I was over him…"

"You could have told me the truth and said no."

"But you were upset over Logan and I thought if I told you I wasn't over Luke, that you would think that you would never get over Logan."

"Mom, come on. I'm not a kid anymore. I can handle the truth. And besides your situation isn't the same as mine."

"I guess."

"You were never over him, were you?"

Lorelai looked over at her daughter. She looked very serious. She knew that she couldn't lie to her. She would know. She always knew.

"No. I wasn't." Lorelai said softly.

"So tell me what happened!" Rory said excitedly.

"Nothing really happened…"

"Did you kiss him?"

"Yes." Lorelai said shyly.

"And it was…"

"Amazing. It felt like nothing had happened. Like nothing had changed."

"You two really are soul mates." Rory said wistfully.

Lorelai shook her head. "I really do love him. I certainly do have an odd way of showing it."

"Mom…"

"God, I'm such an idiot."

"You made a few mistakes. It's ok. You guys are on the right track now."

"We should have been married."

"I know…but…."

"I can't imagine how he felt when we heard I married Christopher." She paused. "No wait, I can. Horrible and completely hurt and betrayed."

"Stop being so hard on yourself." Rory said. "Everyone knew you and dad would never last anyway."

"What?"

Rory bit her bottom lip. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Maybe that was too strong for right now. Her mother needed her support, not her accusations and criticisms.

"I mean, everyone just had their heart set on you and Luke, so when you married dad, it was kind of shocking."

"Rory, it's ok. You're right. I never should have married your dad."

"You just had to go on a journey, ya know? I think it was kind of a test. Like, wow, I really do love Luke, maybe I shouldn't be with dad, Chris, whatever."

"I should have figured it out before we got married. Even before I slept with him."

"Well, it's in the past now. Now is the time to focus on your future."

"I guess."

"So I guess I don't have to worry about you anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you'll have Luke to take care of you."

"He's amazing, but he's no Rory. No one could replace you."

"Thanks mom."

"We're almost there."

"Wow, we are." Rory said, not wanting to think about her departure quite yet. "Oh, and mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I expect some brothers and sisters from you two."

"Whoa, whoa. We just kissed. We aren't even officially back together."

"I know. I didn't mean now. I meant in the future."

"The distant future."

"Ya know you're not as young as you used to be…"

"Rory!"

"Sorry, I'm just saying don't beat around the bush. Just figure things out right away."

"Rory, this can't be rushed. Too much has happened."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Deep down Rory was always an innocent optimistic kid. She wanted things to be simple and be fixed easily. Lorelai knew that Rory just wanted her to be happy, but this was complicated. Maybe she didn't have to think about that right this second.

"It would be really amazing to have a kid with Luke." Lorelai admitted.

Rory's face lit up. "I know. It really would be."

"Looks like we're here." Lorelai said, turning into the airport.

"Yeah." Rory said sadly. "Looks like we're here."

------

After a very emotional goodbye, filled with lots of tears, hugs, and kisses, Rory had finally left. Lorelai stayed until Rory was completely out of sight. Even when she couldn't see her daughter anymore she still stayed for a few more minutes. Finally, she reluctantly left the airport and drove home feeling depressed and empty.

When she got back to town she wasn't sure what she should do. Should she go to Luke's? Maybe she was too emotional for that right now. But, Luke always knew how to make her feel better. She didn't really want to be alone and she knew Luke would never turn her away.

She pulled up in front of the diner and saw how empty it was. It must be a lull. She could see him before the lunch rush started. This was the perfect time.

"Hey." She said, walking into the diner.

"Hey." He said. "How'd it go?"

"Fine. It went fine." Lorelai said, struggling to keep the tears from spilling over her eyes.

Luke walked out from behind the counter and gently led her to a table where they both sat down.

"She'll be home before you know it. I promise." Luke said.

"I miss her already." Lorelai said softly.

He reached across the table and placed her hand in his. He gazed in her gorgeous blue eyes. He had missed her. He had no idea how much until they had kissed yesterday. Tears slowly feel down her cheeks and he gently wiped them away with his hand.

"Can I get you anything?" Luke asked. "Coffee? Pie?"

"No, I'm fine." She said, looking into his slightly blue eyes. "Thanks."

"If you need anything, I'm here."

"I know." She said, smiling weakly. She slowly got up and walked over to the door. "I'll see ya later."

"Sounds good."

"And Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna need time. Ya know, to sort things out. But I want this. I really do. I want it more than anything. I just need some time."

"Take as long as you need."

She smiled as she opened the door and quickly slipped out. She was about to get in her jeep when she realized there was something she forgot to do. She turned around and walked back into the diner.

When Luke heard the bell above the door he turned around and was surprised to see her.

"Is everything ok?" He asked, concerned.

She walked behind the counter and placed her hands softly on his face and captured his lips in hers. He slid his hands down to her hips and returned the kiss. They continued kissing, never wanting it to end, until the need for oxygen became evident. They reluctantly parted, out of breath.

"Now it is." She said in an answer to his previous question.

"Good to hear." He said.

"So what are you doing tonight?" She asked.

"Hopefully something with you."

"My house, 8:00. Be there."

"I will."

She smiled. "Bye Luke."

"Bye Lorelai."

**Please tell me what you think. I loooooooove feedback! **


	2. It's Finally Time To Talk

**Chapter 2 - It's Finally Time To Talk**

**Hello everyone! This chapter is kinda long so I hope you enjoy it. It's a bit emotional as well. I want this fic to be about more than just, 'oh yay! Luke and Lorelai are back together and happy in 3.4 seconds.' They have a lot of stuff to work out. So that's what I plan to write about. **

**Please read and enjoy!!**

Later that night, around 8:00, Lorelai was standing in front of her full length mirror trying to decide on an outfit. She wanted to look nice, but not too nice. Casual, but not too casual. She certainly couldn't wear sweats. Jeans were always a safe bet.

She grabbed her favorite pair of jeans, that made her ass look fabulous, and threw them on her bed.

Now, a shirt.

She stared at the closet and sighed. She had no idea what to wear. She shouldn't be nervous. It was just Luke. Luke. Diner Luke. Luke her ex-fiance.

She did not like the sound of that.

Luke her future boyfriend?

That sounded better.

She wanted to call Rory for some advice, but she was sure that she was doing reporter stuff. It made her miss her daughter that much more.

Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. He was here.

She looked over at the clock, 8:20.

She had to give him credit. He knew not to show up at 8:00. She was the one who was having a fashion meltdown. She looked down at her outfit. Sweatpants that said 'juicy' across the butt and her blue sparkly zip-up. Not exactly what she had in mind.

She quickly threw on her jeans and ran down the stairs. She didn't have time to pick a shirt. She figured having great jeans on was enough. And they were_ great_ jeans.

"Hey." He said casually when she opened the door.

"Hey." She said. "So, come on in." She said, stepping to the side.

"So…"

"You wanna sit?"

"Sure." He said, following her over to the couch. He couldn't help but notice she was wearing the ass jeans. He remembered them well. She only brought them out when she really wanted to impress someone.

"So…" She said looking up at him.

God he looked good. She wanted more than anything to rip his clothes off and have sex right there on the couch. She wanted him. She needed him.

"So, do you wanna go first or should I?" He said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Uh…" She said slightly distracted. "Well, I guess I should. I did the most wrong."

"Lorelai…"

"Why don't you just ask me questions and I'll try to answer them."

"Ok…" He said. "So, why did you do it?"

"Which thing?"

"Everything. The ultimatum, sleeping with him, marrying him…"

"Right." She said.

She gazed into his eyes and she could see how much he was hurting. She couldn't believe what she had done. It seemed like a blur. One minute she was going to marry Luke and then the next minute she was in bed with Christopher.

"Well, I was hurt. Depressed. Disappointed." She started. "I didn't want to be alone and he was the first person I thought of. I didn't mean to sleep with him. That isn't why I went over there. I just needed someone to talk to. But, then we started drinking and it just…it just went down hill from there."

"You couldn't say no?" Luke said in a low soft voice.

"No. Well, I mean, yes. I don't know, I was drunk and hurt, and I just didn't want to feel that way anymore. I don't really know what I was thinking. I wish Chris would have been more supportive instead of taking advantage of me when I was vulnerable. But, that would and will never happen."

"If you would have waited until the morning we could have eloped…"

"I know." She said sadly. "It killed me when you came over all ready to go and I had done that. I wanted to crawl in a little hole and die. I couldn't believe what I did. I couldn't believe that I hurt the one man I had ever loved."

"So you got married…"

This was harder than she thought. She couldn't stand reliving everything. She couldn't stand seeing him sitting there, incredibly hurt, staring into her eyes. It was too much. She couldn't handle it all right now.

Just as the tears were about to spill over her eyes, she stood up.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "It's too much right now."

She quickly ran up the stairs and buried her face in her pillow. She could hear him getting up and she assumed he was leaving, but he heard him coming up the stairs. Luke would always be there for her no matter what. Some things never change.

He walked into her room and found her lying in her bed. This was more complicated than he thought. He knew it would be hard but he wanted thing to be okay between them so badly.

He walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. He softly rubbed her back and brushed the hair out of her eyes. He listened to her crying softly and watched her body shake from her staggered breathing.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I didn't mean to push you."

She slowly turned over to face him. "A lot has happened, ya know?" She said softly. "I want things to be okay again. I want to get married, I want to have more kids, I want…"

A huge smile spread across his face. "Lorelai." He said, sensing a rant coming on.

"What?"

"We will have all those things."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She smiled. "Good."

"So, I'm gonna go." He said, getting up.

"Can we talk more tomorrow?"

"Whenever you want. No rush."

"There is something I want you to know."

"Yeah?"

She sighed and looked down at the bed and started wrapping the sheet around her finger. "I was never over you. I never stopped loving you." She looked up at him. "I know it doesn't seem like that but…"

"I understand." He said.

"I'll never forgive myself for hurting you the way I did."

"Luke…"

"If I would have just told you about April then…"

"Luke." She said.

"What?"

"Were you ever over me?"

He smiled. "Are you serious? Lorelai Gilmore I have loved you ever since you set foot in my diner."

"So, no?"

He knew she just wanted to hear him say it. "No. I could never get over you."

She smiled approvingly. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"I'll be the one with the coffee."

"And that sexy body." She said, raising one eyebrow.

"Ah geeze." He said.

She did enjoy making him uncomfortable. Some things were the same. They still had the banter, his disgust with her coffee addiction, and making fun of each other. It was just all the relationship they still had to work out. He wished it were the other way around.

-------

"I told you that fanny pack would come in handy!" Lorelai said into her cell phone on her way to Luke's.

"I didn't have the gum in my fanny pack. It was just in my pants pocket." Rory corrected.

"Wow, my baby girl gave Barack Obama gum." 

"I know!"

"What flavor was it?" Lorelai said, opening the door to the diner.

"Spearmint."

"Oooo that's a good flavor."

"What designates a good flavor?"

"The one you give to Barack Obama!"

"Right."

"You gotta be quick, Gilmore. You're a reporter now."

Luke noticed that Lorelai was sitting at a table on her cell phone. She would never respect his rule. She had walked into the diner while being on the phone. She didn't think to wait outside, she just walked right in.

"Are you forgetting something?" Luke asked.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"Don't you recall a 'no cell phone' rule in here?"

"Oh, yeah, well, I tend to ignore that. Besides it's Rory. Say hi." She said, shoving the phone up to face.

"Hello Rory." Luke said.

"Hey Luke." Rory greeted.

"There, see? All better." Lorelai said. "Oh, and I'll be needing some coffee."

Luke sighed as he walked away to get her coffee.

"So how's it going with you guys?" Rory asked.

"Uh, good I guess. We're making progress."

"That's good."

"It's a lot harder than I thought, ya know? Talking about everything that happened. It's a lot to deal with all in one sitting."

"You should divide it up."

"We are." She sighed. "Last night was intense."

"Why? What happened?"

"Just facing all that stuff again. It was not fun."

"I can imagine."

"Why are we talking about me? You're on the campaign trail!"

"Yeah but nothing much has happened yet."

"Besides the amazing gum incident."

"Yes."

"You know I'll be telling everyone I know."

"I would expect no less."

"Good."

"Well, I really should go grab some coffee before our next meeting."

"My little girl has a meeting." Lorelai said proudly.

"It's no big deal mom. It's just a meeting."

"Make sure you bring your gum."

"I wouldn't dream of leaving without it."

"That's my little reporter."

"Bye mom. I love you."

"Bye hon. Love you too."

Lorelai closed her phone and threw it back in her purse. The diner had become more crowded when she was talking to Rory. When she looked up she notice that the whole diner had put their heads down. Were they staring at her? Why would they be staring at her?

Oh no.

Did they know?

"How's she doing?" Luke asked as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"What?" Lorelai said, distracted.

"How's Rory doing?"

"Oh, she's great. She gave uh…Barack Obama gum."

"That's good…"

"Yeah, it was spearmint." She said, looking around at everyone in the diner.

"I guess you don't know what you want?"

"How could they know?"

"Know what?"

"What?"

"What?"

"I think they know."

"Who?"

"The town." She whispered.

"Know what?"

"It's to suspicious now. I'll tell you later."

"Whatever." Luke said, slightly aggravated.

"I'll have pancakes and bacon please."

"Coming right up."

After Lorelai quickly ate her pancakes and inhaled her coffee, she made a speedy exit out of the diner. She knew they were all staring at her. She knew they knew about her and Luke. Stupid town. It was absolutely impossible to keep anything a secret.

"Hey Sookie." Lorelai greeted, walking into the kitchen at the inn.

"Hey hon." Sookie said, waving her knife in the air.

"What ya makin'?"

"Shrimp gumbo."

"Oooo. You make amazing gumbo."

"Why thank you." Sookie said proudly. "So…what's up with you?"

"Not much. Rory left yesterday."

"How'd that go?"

"Good, I guess. I was…it was really tough, ya know?"

"I know. Tears?"

"Lots of them. I didn't want to cry in front of her, but I couldn't help it."

"I'm sorry sweetie. She'll be back before you know it."

"Yeah, that's what Luke said too."

"Oh, yeah?" Sookie said mischievously.

"Yeah…" She said, studying her friend's face. "What? What is going on with people today?"

"Oh, nothing…"

"Sookie!"

"I'm not supposed to say anything…"

"When has that stopped you before?"

"I know…but…."

"They know, don't they? Everyone knows!"

"Yes."

"God! This damn town!"

"How was it? Was it good?"

"Sookie…"

"I can't believe Patty saw you, I'm so jealous."

"Patty! I knew it!"

"She saw you kiss him in the diner."

"In the diner?"

"Yeah. Why? It's not true?"

"Oh, well, yeah, we did kiss in the diner." Lorelai said awkwardly.

"Oh my god!" Sookie said excitedly. "This is so great. This is better than great. This is amazing. No it's…."

"I get it Sook."

"So…how's it going with you guys?"

"Good. We still have a lot of stuff to work out."

"Yeah."

"But we're on the right track."

"That's amazing!"

"I know. It's just…kinda hard. Reliving everything."

"Yeah. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

"Yes there is." She said. "Well, I'm gonna go back to the desk."

"Ok, see ya later."

**Sooooooo what did you think? Hmmm I will never know unless you tell me. Hehe. **


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